Thursday, November 17, 2011

The following is a repost from Tom Goodman. Read and enjoy and apply where necessary.

When God’s In Charge, You Can Take Charge

Are you yielding to circumstances or yielding to God? There’s a
difference.

Life can overwhelm us, leaving us passive when we know we need to take
action. Parents can “tune out” instead of intervening in their teenager’s
destructive choices. Business leaders can hide in the safety of familiar
routines instead of adapting to the rapid changes of their industry. Marriage
partners can find escapes to avoid dealing with what is unraveling their
relationship.

Instead of yielding to circumstances, we need to learn how to yield to
God.

King David went through a season where he passively yielded to the tragic
circumstances swirling around him: a family rape, a family murder, and
ultimately a family revolt. These all took place right under David’s nose during
a season of morose passivity.

Maybe he didn’t feel he had the moral authority to confront these sins.
Following his adultery with Bathsheba and his panicked de facto murder of
Uriah (2 Samuel 11-12), David was compromised as a leader and a father. He was
sidelined by depression, self-loathing, and uncertainty about his standing in
the eyes of others. And so he resigned himself to the heartbreak going on around
him.

But then something happened. As he and his loyal followers abandoned
Jerusalem ahead of the invasion of his rebel son, Absalom, the Levites showed up
with the ark. And seeing that holy object, something stirred again in our flawed hero. After all, this is the ark David retrieved, with dancing, as his first order
of kingly business (2 Samuel 6).

And now, seeing that symbol of God’s reign,
David said, “Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the
Lord’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place
again. But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready; let him do
to me whatever seems good to him” (15:25-26).

Here’s the interesting thing: After yielding to God, David began to once
again take charge of his circumstances! He began to act like the king we
remember, and Absalom’s chaos was brought to an end.